


Out of the Cold

by FictionalQuacker



Series: Uchiha no Ajito AU [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Complicated Friendships, F/M, Friends having sex, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Naruto Smut Monday 2021, No Uchiha Massacre, POV Uchiha Shisui, Porn with... a lot of landscape appreciation?, Smut, Snowed In
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 17:20:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28978038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FictionalQuacker/pseuds/FictionalQuacker
Summary: Shisui and Izumi are on a mission in the Land of Snow. Before they can go home a blizzard strikes, and they are forced to wait it out in a cabin.Written for Naruto Smut Monday 2021.
Relationships: Uchiha Itachi & Uchiha Izumi & Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Izumi/Uchiha Shisui
Series: Uchiha no Ajito AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2177061
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12
Collections: Naruto Smut Monday 2021





	1. Lady and the Plow

**Author's Note:**

> This is my contribution for the Naruto Smut Monday 2021 event on Tumblr - January promt "Snowed in"! 
> 
> In this AU the Uchiha migrated out of Konoha and built their own independent society in the old Uchiha Hideout (‘Uchiha no Ajito’; it’s where Sasuke fought and killed Itachi in canon). This is just for fun with a rare pairing that just… forced its way into my brain in a dream. Enjoy! 
> 
> This takes place the year Izumi turns 21 and Shisui is 25.

**Thank you so much to[Never_Stray](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Never_Stray/pseuds/Never_Stray) for Beta reading this and giving me feedback! I love her writing and highly recommend checking it out <3 **

* * *

***

The Land of Snow was a beautiful and cruel mistress. Wading through snow, Shisui had never been quite as grateful to be smothered by heavy fabrics than at this moment. At first, it had seemed ridiculous how much dead weight they were expected to lug around during their track to and from the Kazahana Castle. Izumi had questioned the crew outright about the necessity of _four_ heavy layers and how it would affect their mobility to wear so much clothing.

_‘Skimp on the gear and bits of ya’ won’t be movin’ at all, shrimp.’_ Was the blunt answer she received from the sailor explaining the purpose of each new piece they needed to wear before landing in the harbor of the coldest country in the world. Shisui had quickly learnt what that meant when he neglected to cover his nose and nearly lost the tip of it to frostbite. Without the thick overall and thermal tights between him and the merciless February cold of this god forsaken place his _other_ tip was unlikely to make it home with him. He shuddered at the thought – such disappointment it would cause, and not just to himself. The clan would lose their almost-most-desirable bachelor! And for what? A resentment against wool stockings? Surely, he was a bigger man than that.

Big enough to be of use, at least. Izumi was quite cheery, happily using him as her personal plow while she casually strolled in the path he blazed through the snow.

“We’re almost there, look!” Izumi shouted behind him.

Sure enough, the cabin was just as promised. Small and unassuming, but sturdy and standing stubbornly against the wind on its little hill. The brown timber was flecked with snow and the roof had long spikes of ice hanging off the edges, threatening to fall and stab innocent ninja who dared venture below at the wrong moment. All in all, it was a lovely place.

The interior, however, was somehow less cozy than the outside. Stark and minimalistic, there was nothing in terms of decoration except for an old rug on the floor. The centerpiece was a cast-iron stove with a tall chimney leading all the way out the ceiling and the only furniture was a table and an old-fashioned chest with a flat lid that he supposed was meant to double as a bench. At least the triple-paned window let in some light and a quite magical view of the distant forest, sparkling with frost and crystalized snow so heavy it bent the branches of even the tallest and sturdiest of evergreens breaking through the frozen wasteland that Shisui thought was all there was to this country.

On a map, it was pure white. Standing in the middle of it, there was plenty of dark green and grey to break the monotony.

As much as he loved his home and disliked the cold, he had to admit that at least visually this place had a beauty to it. Speaking of beauty though, Izumi lifted her scarf away from her face and beat off the layer of frost left by her breath on it.

Shisui gave her a look. “Don’t underdress yet – we still need to check the firewood stash and prepare for the night.”

She shook her head, unleashing the long cascade of her hair from the confines of the back of her jacket. Shisui tried not to stare at it, as enrapturing a sight as it was. “I know! I just want to not inhale my own stale air for a moment!”

He shrugged with a smile, leaving his backpack at the table, and headed out to find the firewood.

Arms stacked with dry chunks of pine, he turned the corner of the cabin to find Izumi staring down the spikes of ice. She heard his crunching steps in the snow and turned towards him. First her eyes took in the firewood, then they shot up to his and lit up with unguarded excitement. Shisui paused. There was something about that look that seemed familiar, though for some reason he wound up focusing more on how sweet it was than where he might have seen it before.

“We’ll need to knock these down or they could fall at any moment.” She started, eyeing the bits of firewood again, “let’s make it a game. It could be just like target practice!”

He cracked a smile at her. “Sure, but if you lose you’ve got to be the plow when we leave.” She laughed, throwing a long strand of hair from her shoulder to her back.

“You’re on! I bet it’s a pretty good work-out!”

Ice cracked and exploded against heavy timber, a loud _THUNK_ announcing the strike of wood on ice before it snapped and hit the wall of the cabin. Shisui whistled at a particularly impressive blow against three consecutive spikes, sending them to shatter like glass. “Nice, Izumi-chan!”

“Yes!!” She cheered in turn, fetching the piece of firewood she just threw and waving it victoriously in the air. Shisui laughed and twirled his own current weapon-of-choice in the air. They walked around the corner to the last of the outer walls, Shisui examining the remaining spikes and calculating his throw.

Seven spikes – one piece of firewood. A straight trajectory, although the targets varied in size. He aimed and threw.

_ThuthuuThuThunnnk!_

The spikes snapped easily under the force of the projectile, sending them sideways and away from the wall. They buried somewhere in the deep snow a couple of meters away from the cabin, leaving faint traces where they pierced the course top layer and vanished into the dense fluff underneath.

“Wow!!” Izumi exclaimed, though when he turned to her to announce his victory she was steaming. “You hit them differently this time! It’s way easier to beat down a lot of them if they don’t have to hit the wall…”

Shisui laughed. “Well yeah, I thought I should give you that work-out you wanted.” She crossed her arms, shaking her head and sending her hair flying from side to side along her back. The sun was setting by now – there was only four hours of daylight up here at this time of year and they had wasted quite a bit messing around already. Even so, it seemed quite worth it to get a chance to laugh with her.

They made their way back towards the door when Izumi suddenly grasped his arm. He looked at her, tipping his head at the sudden touch. She directed him to turn around and he automatically followed.

“Look.” Her whisper came soft and low, let out with a small, stunned breath. Shisui blinked before he tore his eyes away from her, and faced the landscape.

The pure white had transformed with the sun. A cloak of snow and frost coating the land shone as pink as a peach, the shadows marked by darker colors and the light spots glittering a thousand more. Taken with the sudden beauty of the white place he had grown to dislike, a thought passed through his occupied mind and he let his Eyes spin to life. Through the heightened sight of the Sharingan he captured the image in all of its perfect detail – and when he traced them over Izumi he realized she had done the same.

Her eyes faded back into their normal dark state, round and vast and friendly as they always were. If she had any ideas of hiding her intentions she did not abide them, because he saw the handful of snow she tried to jam against the back of his head coming way too easily.

Parrying automatically, he sent it flying over his face as it shattered at the sudden stop. The cold flakes melted against his skin and she laughed as he widened his eyes. “I tried to make a snowball, but I guess it doesn’t work when it’s this cold.”

Smiling, Shisui bent down and kicked a wave of snow over her in retaliation. She was too busy enjoying herself to dodge, and he clutched his stomach laughing at the way her eyes widened as she got covered in icy glitter. “You look like a girly snowman!” he told her happily, and even with a long journey between him and his best friend his first thought was of how he could not wait to tell Itachi about it.

Stunned, she stomped her foot and sent some of it flying off her. A layer of ice crystals still covered her hair and face, and as a way to make amends he stepped closer so he could help brush the snow off her. “So sorry, I went a little overboard… Snowma’am.”

“ _Snowma’am?!”_ Izumi gasped, clearly insulted, and swatted his hand away. “No way! That will not become my nickname – it’s way too stupid!”

Shisui caught her gloved hand in his. “You know, Sasuke said the same thing about ‘ _Duckbutt’_ and look what that got him. Every time he cuts his hair we get a new wave of people calling him just that.”

Izumi squeezed his hand before wrestling out of it. She was trying to look mad, but the little twitches at the corners of her mouth betrayed her real feelings. “If you call me Snowma’am in front of the clan then I _will_ find a way to kick your ass for it. Just you wait.”

Grinning, he winked at her. “Got it, princess. For now let’s just focus on heating up the cabin before night falls.”

A large pile of firewood stacked against the wall by the door, fire cracking in the stove, and two layers lighter the two Uchiha shinobi were almost starting to feel at home. Izumi stirred a simple soup of grain and dried meat over the stove, and Shisui found a reindeer pelt stashed away in the chest with the flat lid. Seated on top of it, he watched her cook and thought about home.

They had been gone for a month. The travel alone took almost two weeks from their clan’s ancestral stronghold at the southern border of the Land of Fire. It was a lot of time to spend with just one person – even if they did know each other well. Hard not to, when your clan was the only company you had around when you were not on a mission.

She stirred rhythmically and he followed her hand with his eyes. Out of the cold and far out of earshot of anyone, he figured it was a good oppertunity to ask her about the person either of them knew better than each other: “what’s going on with you and Itachi?”

Izumi looked up from the pot, her face changing from relaxed to slightly tense and unsure. “What do you mean? It’s the same as always.”

Shisui sighed, resting with his back against the timber wall. “You know what I mean. Fugaku-san clearly still hopes for you to marry him, and yet you two keep skirting around the subject like it was a taboo.”

She bit her bottom lip, the skin turning white were she pinched it with her teeth. “It’s not taboo. It’s just… strange. I mean, neither of us have even had a boyfriend yet, and yet we’re expected to just settle down forever?” Izumi looked down at the soup, furrowing her brow and stirring it with more vigor. As if beating her frustrations into the contents of the pot. Shisui kept watching, patiently. “Itachi agrees with me. There’s more to life than following tradition and putting everything aside just to… attend meetings and have babies, I guess.”

“Is that something you want, then? To have a boyfriend?” Shisui asked bluntly. She frowned, her cheeks slightly pink.

“I want to know what it’s like, yeah. To choose someone, just because I want to, and not for some goal or practicality.” Izumi sighed, putting a hand to her forehead. “That can’t be too much to ask… I refuse to accept that.”

“Hm…” Shisui crossed his arms, turning his eyes to the ceiling and pondering her words. Truth be told, he never had fully wrapped his head around the mess that was his dear friends’ relationship and he suspected he never would. Partially due to how it seemed to never stop changing, and partially because he did not want to intrude upon it. “I get it. Though to be honest, if you asked Itachi for romance he would probably try his best to give you that.”

“Maybe, but I don’t want to. He would try for all the wrong reasons… for duty, not because he likes me.” Izumi paused, swallowing before continuing. “Besides – where’s the adventure in dating the guy everyone expects you to end up with anyway?” She ended with a wink and a lighthearted little smile.

“Adventure, huh?” Shisui chuckled, closing his eyes and smiling with his head tipped back. “I can’t blame you. He’s brilliant, but not exactly the adventurous type.”

“Right.” There was a ringing of metal against metal, and Shisui opened his eyes to Izumi taking the pot off the stove with her spoon as leverage. “Come on, if I boil this any longer it’ll thicken into meat pudding.”

“Sounds delicious.” Shisui quipped, grabbing his own utensil from his pack and joining her at the table. Side-by-side on the chest and spooning the soup right out of the pot, Shisui found himself enjoying the meal far more than the still chewy bits of meat and utterly bland flavor of it should allow for.

Darkness settled quickly. Alarmingly, it was accompanied by increasingly louder howling as the wind picked up with the dropping temperature. Izumi stood by the window, looking out with a worried crease between her brows. “Shisui-san, do you think we might get hit by a storm? Come look at the trees.”

Stepping up behind her and looking over her shoulder, he could only share her concern. The heavy evergreens waved in the wind outside, thick branches swaying and shedding their coats of snow.

“It’s possible if it keeps picking up. We will have to wait out the night and see what it’s like in the morning.”

Crossing her arms and hugging herself, she shuddered. Smiling apologetically, he tugged at her hair to distract her and earned a bemused, although far from disapproving, little glare in return.

Laid out on the rug in front of the stove, their sleeping bags rubbed against each other when Izumi rolled and turned her back to him. Shisui was flat on his back, arms behind his head. It was plenty warm enough to have more distance between them, but over the past month it had become habit to sleep near her. He was perfectly comfortable that way – the firm lump of her body next to his reassured him of her company and the little noises that left her nose had a way of lulling him to sleep. As he did drift away from consciousness, pictures of home formed before his closed eyes. Not their current home in the Stronghold way down south, but his _first_ home. The village Hidden in the Leaves.

Perhaps it was homesickness, or maybe it was because of the lack of greenery this far north, but his head filled with broad canopies filtering sunlight and summer heat through the crowns of countless trees. After all this time, and despite everything that went down between his village and his clan, a little piece of Konoha remained lodged inside his heart. He did not regret refusing the Third Hokage’s offer to let him stay as a Leaf Ninja, after all what kind of man would it make him if he abandoned the Uchiha when not even Itachi had taken up that same offer?

However, not regretting following his clansmen out of the Hidden Leaf had no effect on him not forgetting the place. He was born in Konoha, raised with his peers outside the clan as well as within it. He had left comrades behind when they migrated… friends, even. Shisui loved his clan but he did not share in their loneliness and isolation. So, he figured he could not be blamed for still harboring some of the old warmth he felt towards his childhood home.

Izumi stirred next to him. He rolled his head to the side to look at her, sleepily thinking that she was a piece of home, too. A former Konoha genin, with the will of fire still burning behind those great brown eyes of hers.

As his eyelids slowly closed, he sunk into deep, comfortable darkness with the little noises from her nose filling his ears.

The next morning the strong winds really had turned into a true storm. Even at a distance he could hear the trees creak and complain, bending and fighting to stand upright. It was too cold for fresh snowfall but that hardly mattered – the rushing air tore at the already heavy layer of snow from the ground and sent it into a frenzy. Despite the sun being up, it was impossible to see anything but flickering white outside the window of the cabin.

Izumi took it well, busying herself with double-checking their rations and figuring out a safe way to bring in more firewood.

The hours passed slowly, though Shisui did not mind. Izumi was good company even in boring circumstances. She made them tea and came up with a game they could play; taking turns hiding a coin in the palm of their hand while having to do various movements with the other guessing which hand held the coin. Shisui laughed when she guessed incorrectly for the fourth time in a row and suggested introducing Itachi to the game when they returned; so that they could both lose splendidly.

Thinking about their mutual friend, Shisui wondered what Itachi was doing without them.


	2. Adventures lead to unknown places.

Darkness settled once again, but the storm did not. With little else to do, they used the pelt and their sleeping bags to build an impromptu place to relax, sitting with their backs against the chest drinking more tea and listening to the fire burning away and keeping them warm.

Shisui had his eyes closed, wondering how long it might take to travel home at this point. The pay for the mission was excellent, or they would not have traveled this far to begin with, so he would not be the one to complain about it. Still, right then he wanted nothing more than to get home where he could have a meal surrounded by friendly faces, and finally reunite with his own bed in his own chamber.

He sighed, and glanced over at Izumi. “What are you thinking about?” The words slipped out of him before he had finished wondering. She pulled her knees up and rested her arms over them.

“Home, mostly. I hope things have calmed down tomorrow so we can make it to the harbor.” She muttered, sleepily putting her head on her crossed arms. Shisui nodded.

“Yeah, me too. But you should be a little bit happy about being here.”

She lifted her head, shooting him a skeptical look. “Why?”

He smirked, putting a hand on her head and messing up her hair. “Because this is an adventure of sorts, isn’t it?”

Izumi blinked, then narrowed her eyes. She looked him up and down as if she was investigating him, scanning him. He tilted his head, his confident grin turning uncertain as he wondered what she was up to.

“Maybe.” She clipped, her gaze lingering on his face. “It could be.”

Shisui stared, slowly tensing his eyebrows as he read the meaning underneath her words. He gave her a hesitant smile. “What? With me?” She returned his expression with a little smirk of her own, strangely far more confident than he was.

“Do we have anything better to do?”

He scoffed, scratching his head. He had not meant to make any innuendos. Unprompted, his heart did beat a little bit faster regardless of his initial intentions. “Guess not. But I don’t know if that’s wise, Izumi-chan.”

She let her knees fall back down, stretching out her legs against the sleeping bags. Nonchalantly, she tipped herself to the side, so her shoulder hit his arm. “What kind of adventure is it if it’s based on wisdom? That just sounds boring.”

Shisui looked her over, lowering the hand from his head. Quietly, he scanned her and wondered how thoroughly she had thought things through. Izumi had never been one to be shy about her affections for people, that had been made very clear ten years ago when she still nursed the shameless crush on Itachi that caught Fugaku’s attention and started the stifled mess that were her and his love lives to begin with. He supposed she really meant what she said: that she really did want to experience more before she had to decide if an arranged match with the clan’s heir was what she wanted or not. Perhaps, if that was the case, then there would be no harm in indulging her.

He would be a filthy liar if he tried to claim she had not grown into an attractive woman – and not the type of filthy he _enjoyed_ being.

“Hm… if fun is all that you’re looking for…” Shisui murmured, watching her reaction with great interest. Pulse picking up, he felt hotter than he had during this entire mission and his body was all too happy to remind him of how long it had been since he had any type of privacy… let alone intimacy. Intrigued, Izumi shot up and met his eyes. She smiled, her brown eyes brilliantly bright and full of energy. Pink spread over her cheeks and she blinked sweetly.

“I told you yesterday – I want to know what it’s like to choose someone just because I want to.”

“And you don’t care if that means it’s just based off a guess?” Shisui cocked his head at her. She mimicked his movement, tipping hair over her shoulder as she did.

“A guess?”

Running a strand of her hair between his fingers, he offered her one more reason to back out before either of them regretted it. “We don’t even know if we’ll like each other that way. I’m not like Itachi, I don’t hold myself back for prosperity… and I don’t wait to figure out if I’m in love with someone before making my interests known.”

Izumi lowered her eyes for just a moment, before confidently turning them back up to his. “I’m not asking you for a relationship, and I’m not afraid of things not working out before even trying anyway. Not when it comes to missions and not… this.” She put a hand to his face, tracing his bottom lip with her fingertips. The touch was soft and sensual, sending a pleasant shiver down his body and making him swallow as his mouth went dry. Shisui answered her by leaning closer, putting a hand on her thigh and stopping just before she had a reason to close her eyes.

“I know you’re not. I like that about you.” He whispered, feeling instinct and experience kicking in and telling him to put her at ease before he went any further. “If you have any hesitation, say so.” Pleased, she hummed. Pressing down against her thigh, he kept his eyes open and experimentally brushed his lips against hers. Izumi’s mouth curled into a happy smile and she pressed forward playfully. He smirked, moving to the side and kissing her pink cheek, trailing gently towards her ear.

Patiently, she let him wander over her face and tilted her head so her hair fell away from her neck. He ran his hand over it, wondering if he should say something. It was not as silky as Itachi’s, but it was longer, and had a lovely color. Putting his lips to the lobe of her ear, he lowered his voice to a dark murmur and pried; “tell me what you like… what you would like me to do.”

She shuddered slightly, letting out an excited little exhale. Her hand snuck behind him and her fingers wrapped around the back of his neck. He pulled back enough to look at her face, and she gazed determinedly right back at him.

“Start with actually kissing me, why don’t you.”

Izumi pushed him forward and claimed his mouth, firmly. Shisui drew in sharply, squeezing her thigh with his hand and filling his lungs with air before she could take his breath away from him. Her mouth was soft but far from tender. Hungry, more like it. He could not help but smile into it, letting his teeth hit her lip.

He angled his head, pinching her bottom lip between his own. “Izumi-chan…” He crooned sweetly, hoping to see how much enthusiasm he could draw out of her. She hopped closer, wrapping a leg over his and pulling the hand on her thigh to her rump.

“Yeah?” She muttered back. Fingers wound their way under his tight thermal undershirt, her hand slightly too cold for comfort but sending an interesting tingle through him. He opened his mouth and drove forward with more vigor, as the enthusiasm he wanted from her apparently grew faster in himself than in her. Izumi moaned when he squeezed her ass and pushed his tongue against hers, tasting the inside of her mouth.

He moved his free hand up her back and fisted the hair at the nape of her neck. “You’re eager.” She snorted against his face.

“Is this where you confess to being secretly bad with women or something?”

He broke off the kiss just to see her damn near mischievous smile. Far from insulted, he savored the quick little quip. Not enough to let her get away with it, but enough to spur him on.

Shisui slipped the hand on her rump down her leg behind her knee, using it as leverage to put her on her back. Holding her down with his arm firmly planted against the pelt next to her head, he leaned in to return the sharp look on her face and tell her; “I’ve never been bad at anything.”

Laughing, she arched her back and let him put his mouth to her neck. Climbed on top of her like that, his body responded with gusto. Brain swimming in dopamine, pulse racing away with him and his lungs taking shorter, more shallow breaths he relished the intimate, sorely missed feeling of arousal spreading through him. His manhood hardened, fighting the tights for more space as it swelled. Her hands ran up his legs, past his hips and to his back. From there, they trailed back down until they cupped his ass. Shisui pushed back, relishing the feeling of her clamping down with surprisingly strong hands. His enthusiastic response encouraged her further – one of her hands stroking its way around his hip and palming the hard bulge which his tight bottoms did nothing to conceal.

He groaned against her neck, leaving it bruised to retake her lips with his own. Bucking into her touch he was more than happy to feel her move underneath the tights to grab him directly. Skin on skin around his cock for the first time since he left home with her was an indescribably welcome feeling. He thrusted his neglected limb into her fist. His eyes rolled at the sweet sensation.

“Izumi-chan, shit.” Shisui moaned, sticking a thumb under the elastic waistband and pulling the tights down enough to release himself. “I haven’t… in a long time, I haven’t…” He sighed. She was sweeping him up and down with both grace and pressure, sending long shots of pleasure through him.

Izumi licked his bottom lip then, squeezing him slightly. “Me neither, Shisui-san…” When he opened his eyes, staring at her through heavy lids like a man starving, she was pink-faced and sweaty underneath him. He could not for the life of him remember a time when she had looked more beautiful.

Shisui wrapped his hand around her neck and lifted her to his face, opening her up to him. The slimy warmth filling his mouth with her tongue running over his complimented the sensations between his legs, making his head as blank as the untouched snow had been. Feelings of pleasurable pressure increasing, vulgar enjoyment had his body ravaged by a storm quite the opposite of the one outside. Warm, humid, human, rather than cold, dry and relentless.

Pushing him away gently, she got him sitting back up and kneeled before she took him into her mouth. Absolutely losing it in her wet heat, he jerked under her head and filled his hands with her hair.

Hips bucking, breath uneven and pathetic, he forced his eyes open to watch her and got knocked over by the storm inside him. Clenching his jaw in a desperate attempt to stay sane, his senses overwhelmed him and he spilled out onto her tongue behind those hungry lips. Shisui gasped and pulled at the hair in his fists. If it hurt her, she did not let him know.

Coming down, he caught his hitched breath and watched her through tired eyes while she slowly pulled away from him. He released the grip on her hair and gently held her head between his hands instead. Izumi wiped her mouth on the back of her hand and smiled innocently at him while he pulled his clothes back in place. “I ended up kissing you first, Shisui-san.”

A small laugh escaped him through his nose, in short and quick bursts of air. “Yeah.” She sat up and crawled on all fours to his side, where she stayed to watch him curiously. He smirked and tugged at a piece of her hair again, telling her “you were good at it.”

Returning it with a cocky little smile of her own, she simply quipped that for once she got a taste of what it is like to be naturally gifted at something.

Shisui’s suddenly felt very much alert. “Wait, this isn’t your first time, is it?” He burst out.

She scoffed, sitting back and shaking her head at him. “No. I just meant I didn’t have to practice for once.”

Relieved, he sunk back against the chest and pulled her up against his side, one arm wrapped around her shoulders. “Thank god, if Fugaku-san found out I’d robbed you of your innocence he would probably put me on latrine duty for the rest of my life.”

Izumi elbowed him in the ribs. “You make it sound like he’s _my_ father.”

“He wants to be, doesn’t he?” Shisui sighed. He figured she probably disliked having to think about it, but it was an unavoidable factor in their lives even away from home. Whatever their personal feelings were, the interests of the clan loomed over Itachi and Izumi constantly. It did hover over Shisui, too, although in different ways than for his two closest friends.

She shifted next to him. Her face scrunched up uncomfortably. “He _isn’t_ though. My dad never tried to control me the way Fugaku-san does with Itachi-kun.” Her expression softened, a warm fuzz coming over her, “Before he died, he used to tell me that girls should be strong and stand up for themselves. I thought he just meant to not let people be mean to me, but now I think maybe there’s more to it than that.”

Shisui lowered his head slightly, holding her tighter. He had never met Izumi’s father, but he imagined the man must have been pretty impressive for her mother to willingly leave the clan behind for him. Part of him was jealous of how she could speak so highly about him, but ultimately he felt more happiness for her than sadness for himself. Shisui and his own father had not spoken much at all, especially not towards the end.

She settled in against him, rubbing her cheek against his shoulder. Her warm body was a sweet comfort against his.

Shisui ran his hand down her arm. She tipped her head upwards and let him lean down to kiss her.

It seemed almost funny, how she still tasted like him, even after filling her mouth with tender words about the past. He touched her hip, moving the arm not wrapped around her over her lower belly. “Would you like me to return the favor?” He whispered against her lips, opening his eyes enough to see her nod. Quietly, he slipped his right hand between her legs and silenced the soft gasp leaving her lips by pressing down on them with his own. The fabric was tight over her groin, he could feel the slightly bulging curves underneath and she squirmed at the touch of his fingers.

“Mn…” She murmured, opening her mouth against his and spreading her legs. Shisui palmed her. Pressing harder against the soft vulva beneath the thermal leggings. When she twisted her hips, he moved his hand and stuck it underneath the tights and the normal underwear she wore underneath, finding her wet and slick against his fingers. Experimentally, he sought the firm bud that never failed to bring the women he bedded satisfaction and ran two fingers against it. Izumi sighed deeply and lifted her hips encouragingly.

He buried his face in the hair behind her ear and concentrated on the wet flesh underneath his fingertips. Izumi’s breathing hitched, and his touches drew sweet gasps of pleasure from her throat.

Enthralled, Shisui put his nose against her head with his eyes closed, and listened to the sounds of her body communicating with him. Happy sighs, rasping breaths, tense moans and tortured little whines sung a song of delight to his ears. Izumi tensed, gripping the sleeping bag underneath her and squealed as he increased the pace, running over her sweet little bud with gentle determination to make her come against his hand.

Her head fell back, a long moan pushing past her lips and her hips jumped up and down against the plush little nest they had built. There was a familiar pulsation underneath his fingertips, and in response to the spasming muscles he held still and cupped her sex gently while she rode it out.

Izumi put a hand to the back of his head. He leaned into it.

“Shisui-san… would it be difficult for you?”

Pausing, Shisui opened his eyes. “What would?”

Izumi turned towards him, glancing down. Reluctantly he pulled his hand out of her tights.

“To be just friends. When we get home, I mean.”

Shisui smiled cynically despite the tiny, bitter jab to his pride. He pulled away further. One hand still around her, he trailed the one that had just made her so pleased across her knee. “Is this your very polite way of telling me I’m no good?”

Now, she giggled. “No. That was great! I would do more of this in a heartbeat.” She cleared her throat and added, “I mean – will you promise not to fall in love with me?” As genuinely as she seemed to wonder, he found himself frowning skeptically.

“Why? Am I not allowed to?”

She furrowed her brow at him. “Shisui-san… I’m not naïve. I know what can happen to a friendship when sex happens, and as much as I want to enjoy this with you I… I don’t want to hurt you. Like _you_ said before; we don’t know how we will feel, and you don’t wait to find out before acting. What if we end up finding out and our feelings are incompatible?”

He felt himself soften. The small jab grew slightly, but it felt more akin to uncomfortable understanding than hurt.

“If that happens then I still won’t let it ruin our friendship.” He squeezed her shoulder before he let go and withdrew the arm from her. Grinning at her to the best of his ability, he formed his hand into a fist and bumped it against her arm. “Itachi would never let me get away with it.”

Izumi’s face cracked. Amusement spreading while worry faded.

“That’s true. Me neither.”


	3. All the way home, back to each other.

Green. So much green! It was incredible, how much he had missed that color. Even in the middle of winter the Land of Fire kept its greenery, and Shisui could not believe how he had failed to appreciate it for twenty-five years.

All it took was six weeks away from home, two of which spent surrounded by a frozen hellscape, to make him realize that green must certainly be the best color in the world.

Back in their normal clothing, high collars around their necks and paper fans proudly displayed on their backs once again, he and Izumi finally saw Ajito – the tall, terraced mountain hidden among vast forest they now called home. They passed a small group of children playing among the trees, their mentor watching them like a hawk. When they reached the main gate, carved right out of the rock and guarded by a metal door, relief washed over Shisui. Walking through the dark tunnels, climbing endless stairs and passing friendly faces and familiar spaces, it could not possibly matter how tired they both felt after their lengthy time away. Their legs carried them forward until they reached Fugaku’s office chamber.

Where they expected to find their Clan Head, Itachi sat instead. Putting a scroll on his father’s desk, he did not seem surprised to see them. Blank as a canvas his face betrayed nothing while he stood to greet them.

“You’re back.” He stated simply. Thrill spread through Shisui’s chest, and unguarded joy took over Izumi’s entire being. Itachi looked well – his complexion less pale than normal, like he had been out in the sun, and his features seemed slightly fuller than before they left. Shisui grinned at him and slapped Izumi’s back which was more than enough to send her shooting forward. She leapt at Itachi, throwing her arms around his shoulders and sending him whirling in a wide circle to keep his balance.

“We missed you, Itachi-kun!” She exclaimed and Shisui burst out laughing.

“Don’t choke him, woman!” He joked, stepping forward to put his hands on both of their shoulders. 

Itachi still did not seem surprised, he simply softened and returned their happy expressions with his own gentle smile.

Shisui’s eyes met his and both their smiles broadened.

“Welcome home.”

Itachi’s voice was music to his ears, and Shisui hugged them both. Be it a Hidden Village or a relic from the Warring States period, he thought that perhaps it mattered less what his home was than who he shared it with. With his arms full off precious people he felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude. He was so lucky to be alive, and so happy to have his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> I'm going to be honest and say I had so much fun writing this, it was a welcome break from my larger AU project. Lately I've just been facinated by friendships getting complicated. Though, I have been feeling very nervous about this particular pairing because it's... well, rare. I don't feel like I have anything to compare it to so please give me your honest feedback.
> 
> That said I do hope you found it entertaining!


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